Whitney Dagg pre TNF100km interview

The North Face 100km in the Blue Mountains outside Sydney Australia takes place this weekend. Arguably the premiere mountain 100km ultra in the Southern Hempishre, the TNF100 has attracted some top talent over the last few years, including some of New Zealand’s best ultra runners. This year sees our top ultra runner in recent years Vajin Armstrong return to the Blue Mountains, as well as one of our leading ladies in New Zealand trail running, Whitney Dagg, step up for her first 100km race. We caught up for a quick chat with Whitney ahead of her first 100km race (and we also teamed up with Whitney’s sponsor The North Face to offer you a chance to win a little prize pack- details below).

Whitney at the Wanaka River Run Series

Whitney the TNF100 will be your first 100km race- how are you feeling, what are your expectations? Well I’m feeling pretty excited but a tad scared at the same time. Because it’s my first 100km I don’t really know how my body is going to feel after 80ish km. I’m not expecting to do a super fast time, and will be happy with a finish, but would like to make the top ten women. Most of all I want to make sure that I still have fun, despite the pain that I will most likely experience at the same time.

In the last 12months you set the Routeburn and Naseby 50km course records, but also have had a few niggles- how is the body feeling with the training you have done for a 100km race? I have had a few niggles come and go during my training, so fingers crossed the body can hold up for the distance. I felt good during the Routeburn return trip that I did a few weeks ago, but my hip has been a bit tender since then. It’s just an inflammation overuse thing that I’m sure most runners are aware of. I have also struggled with ITB friction syndrome for a few years now, so hoping they don’t give me any trouble.

You ran the Routeburn Classic a few weeks ago and then ran back to the start at the divide- how was the training run? How was it to be racing this, knowing you had to run back to the start- did you give the race 100%? The Routeburn return trip had to be done as it was my last chance at a long training run and at the same time I didn’t want to miss out on the race. I ran hard during the start of the race and managed to catch Victoria Beck, however had to tone it down a bit in the second half of the race, knowing that I had a long day ahead of me. She did the opposite of course and got faster rather than slowing down. So, no I didn’t give it 100%, but still had heaps of fun. Check out Whitney’s Routeburn return “move” here.

One of the biggest things with ultra distance is being able to fuel and take food in, have you been training for this during long runs? Yip I have been eating and drinking during my long training runs and have a selection of foods/gels that I know work for me. I am a Sports Nutritionist and studying to be a Dietitian currently, so have a bit of knowledge that I can put into practice.

You’re a The North Face sponsored runner- what will you have on your feet and back? Shoes – Women’s Single Track II, Pack – Women’s Enduro plus pack.

As we said above, BCR and Whitney’s sponsor The North Face have teamed up to offer a little prize pack- we have a TNF day pack (not a running pack, but great for a drop/gear bag, or for small day hikes), a TNF beanie and TNF cap. To win this all you need to do is leave a comment at the bottom of this post, with what time and place you think Whitney will finish The North Face 100km in. One guess per person and comments must be in by 7am NZ time, 18th May.

To keep up with all the action at TNF100 this weekend keep an eye on the Australian based Ultra 168 Facebook page and the Ultra168 blog for full race preview.

We will have an interview with Vajin Armstrong this week also and your chance to win some UltAspire gear!

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A Backcountry Running Community for New Zealand trail, mountain and ultra runners- We want this to be the place you come for all things trail running including race previews and reports, interviews with New Zealand runners and hopefully a whole lot more! Our aim is to provide as much original content- previews/reports/interviews on New Zealand trail, mountain and ultra races. We can't be everywhere- so feel free to get in touch if you have the scoop on a race or event.